I see where James is coming from: only called ministers have that direct relationship with the congregation rather than being hired or fired by the board, the senior minister, or some HR committee. It makes sense that the called relationship be protected from legal incursion in a special way. That is, though, a UU distinction that might not always or easily translate to the ways other religious bodies engage their leaders or have them assigned.

I think we may need to expand the list beyond called ministers, though, because we might want to allow a church to have a similar relationship with anyone who is going to represent the church to the congregation or to the community. Depending on the nature and dynamic of the congregation and denomination, that could include:

But it definitely would not include office workers, contractors, and those who care for the physical plant.

I originally thought that I would only include the minister(s) of congregations, but then you went and included in your list the following:

-Kosher Supervisor at a hospital or nursing home (required under Jewish law to be a rabbi).

So I had to rethink and realized that outside the congregation there may, sometimes, be positions that require unique religious qualifications that cannot be substituted by someone other than the person the institution with full prejudice chose...

That question doesn't make a lot of sense. So I will answer the question that I think you were asking:

Under Federal Law a religious organization such as the UUA very clearly has every right to discriminate on the basis of religion in hiring those who would be making decisions in how the church is run and/or acting in a ministerial capacity.

As far as lower-level employees are concerned, whether the UUA can insist that the secretaries and/or the person who runs their bookstore be a UU is a grayer question, but they probably can if they really want to. The UUA probably can't insist on UU janitors, but I don't see why they would want to.

That said, church work generally doesn't pay much and I seriously doubt the UUA is an exception. I don't think it is very likely that someone who wasn't committed to the aims of the UUA would want to work there since they would make more money doing the same job someplace else.

Well, ok, then if there are lots of applicants for a janitorial position, the UUA can chose the most experienced or the friendliest, but they shouldn't chose a less-qualified UU just because he's a UU. I tend to doubt they would, though.

CCwho has actually only seen one janitor case, and that was one where a church was claiming that all of its employees were ministers and since the janitor was a minister, it was legitimate for them to be paying him less than minimum wage. I really don't see the UUA pulling that.

For reasons I haven't been able to fathom, membership in the Church disqualifies one for employment at my Church. Something about not being able to take wages/salary from the Church if you're a member. I don't know if that's unique to our bylaws or standard practice in UU --or any other-- Churches.